Exodus 33
8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. 11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent, Moses, and the Glory of the LORD 12 Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, "I know you by name and you have found favor with me. 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people." 14 The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." 15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? ..... 17 And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name." 18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." 19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." 21 Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."
PASSED: THE EXODUS
Since the occurrence and horror of Hurricane Katrina, each of us have been provoked to take a personal pyschospiritual inventory, to make a radical paradigmatic shift, or make a cognitive restructure in our perception, expression, and appreciation of life and about those whom we love. While this occurrence is undoubtedly paralyzing, traumatic and tragic at the very least, simultaneously, it is an invitation and a metaphor for each man and woman to embrace the bond of love that is action that warrants expression in touching others and being touched by others, which is a requirement of what it means to be human. Such an invitation is one that we have been invited to learn and integrate, repeatedly, on numerous occasions into the manner that we live and love on a daily moment by moment bases. What is it that makes it so challenging for far too many of us to keep these lessons "up front?"
It has been several weeks subsequent to this devastating occurrence and even at present, we are still witnesses to brokenness, desolation, distress, displacement, uncertainty, unanswered inquisitions, and pandemic suffering relative to GOD'S people and GOD'S land.
If many of us were to quiet ourselves for a moment, remove the facade, and the distractions, we would admittedly acknowledge that it still remains increasing difficult to effectively articulate the breath and scope of such prolific suffering juxtaposed as a consequence of the cohabitation of life and death which this event presents to each of us. We have, more than likely, in the secret of our places of refuge, asked the questions, "GOD, have you passed by all of this? What is next? Will we or can we rebound from this?"
Irmgard Schloegl in the work entitled The Wisdom of Zen Masters, offers us a paradoxical perspective on what it means to be passed, significantly so, by the breath of GOD. Moreover, this narrative teaches us that, oftentimes, we are far from cognizant that something momentous has happened to us until we get a retrospective glimpse! The narrative is called Two Monks and reads as follows:
Two monks on a pilgrimage came to a ford in a river. There they saw a girl dressed
in all her finery, obviously not knowing what to do since the river was high and she did not want to spoil her clothes. Without much more ado, one of the monks took her on his back, carried her across and put her down on dry ground on the other side.
The monks continued on their way. But the other monk after an hour started complaining, "Surely it was not right
to touch a woman; it is against the commandments to have close contact with women.
How could you go against the rules of the monks?" The monk who had carried the girl
walked along silently, but finally remarked, "I set her down by the river an hours ago,
why are you still carrying her?"
Moses, as he was instructed to lead GOD'S people into the land that flowed with milk and honey, faced similar circumstances. He expressed to GOD that he had submitted to the request of the LORD to lead the people, but had no insight nor inclination as to how the process would be facilitated, much less successful in light of numerous obstacles. GOD responded in telling Moses about his pleasure in his having submitted and Moses further yields himself to GOD in having asked GOD to "teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you."
The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." I know you by name." 18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." 19 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."
While we are able to anchor ourselves in the action of Moses' account, it still remains, at best, challenging for many of us to witness GOD'S movement if we are recalcitrant about relinquishing our prewritten scripts about others, GOD, and even ourselves. Consequently, the question that you must ask yourself today, right now, as you conclude this reflective reading is, "Have you been passed today, right now, in this moment?" If you have answered in the affirmative then live into the manifestation of GOD'S presence!
Lastly, what Moses as well as the Tale of the Two Monks offers and teaches us about being passed and experiencing the benefit of the passing, THE EXODUS, is the fact that, often, we are not aware that GOD has passed (GRACED) us until after the passing has transpired and that we are living on the residue of the event! Significantly, this passing is like unto an EXODUS as it moves us from a den of danger to a refuge of safety, from a state of destruction to a state of construction, and from a place no possibility to a place of multiple possibilities! Can you see it now! GOD has passed each of us indeed...not passed us by, but passed over our lives with his unmistakably loving, affirming, holy, grace, and abiding presence from which there is no escape! MAY YOU CONTINUE TO BE PASSED! REJOICE!
K. Mason
K. Mason
(c) 2005
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